Titans
by Elaina96
Summary: AU: What will lie ahead for these heroes, these Titans? Well, what better way to be prepared than by going to the Titan Academy for Extraordinary Young Adults and Gifted Youngsters, where the powerful and wise J'onn J'onzz can teach them? Can Richard really expect to fit in here, at a school for kids with abilities, and heroes? We'll find out.
1. Prologue

Titans

Titans

AU: What will lie ahead for these heroes, these Titans? Well, what better way to be prepared than by going to the Titan Academy for Extraordinary Young Adults and Gifted Youngsters, where the powerful and wise J'onn J'onzz can teach them? Can Richard really expect to fit in here, at a school for kids with abilities, and heroes? We'll find out.

 _(A.N.) It's an A.U._ _I've changed everything, and if you don't like it then well… you don't have to read it. I've been working on this for so long and it's going to be long with many sequels- 1, 2, 3, 4. Things are different, I've tried to combine Teen Titans with Young Justice and a little X-Men. They're clearly the Titans but I wanted them to start out older and more like their comic book selves but with no super hero code-names. If you are wondering their age, in the prologue it starts out around 15, with Victor clearly older, and then goes to 18 by chapter 1. Villains are different but I'm sure you can recognize them. You will find that I've put a title of a song at the end of each chapter. I recommend you listen to it to get the full feel of the story, but it is optional._

 _Pairings are RobStar-BBRae- and Cy will get some too._

This is my story!

Enjoy.

Titans

-Prologue.

The wind blew rapidly as he sped down the road on his fast, custom, red and black motorcycle. He looked around and rolled his eyes, he wasn't even sure what he was supposed to be looking for, and he was pretty sure he was lost. He sped down long forsaken roads, keeping an eye out for… well, anything. And he hated to admit it but he was about to give up, until he saw it.

It was a huge building. No, mansion.

Richard parked his bike and took off his helmet and looked around astonished, before taking off his sunglasses in bewilderment. He had never seen a place like this before. It was clearly a school, but not like any school he had ever seen before. He hopped off his bike and set his helmet on the seat before digging in his pocket for the letter. It had been less than a week since Richard had received the letter saying that he had been accepted to the Titan Academy for Extraordinary Young Adults and Gifted Youngsters.

He thought it was bogus for many reasons, one being the fact that he didn't have any powers, the other being that he had never done a good deed in his life. He checked the note confirming that this was the place before moving forward. He walked up the long empty driveway, casually pressing a button on his belt that locked up his bike. He wasn't sure what he was expecting coming here, but he definitely wasn't expecting this. He cautiously walked up the sidewalk and entered the big building. It seemed empty, which made him more suspicious, so his hand hovered over his holster in case he might need to defend himself.

"Welcome to the academy." A tall older man greeted from what seemed to be out of nowhere. Richard almost jumped back in surprise. "Oh, I apologize for startling you. Please do not be frightened, Richard. You are in a safe place, I assure you." The man tried to sound reassuring. Richard couldn't help but look at him warily, not completely sure he could trust this man. "I'm sorry. Let me introduce myself. My name is J'onn J'onzz," the man said, shaking Richard's hand.

"J'onn J'onzz?" Richard asked, confusedly.

"Well that's my real name, but you could call me John or even Sean, if it's easier," the man said with a smile.

"No, J'onn's fine. I don't mean to sound rude or anything, but why did you call me here? You are the person that called me here, right?" Richard asked.

"Indeed," the man nodded. "Richard, I know you've had a troubling life with the death of your parents and the odd situation with your adopted father..." Richard looked away, almost embarrassed, as the man spoke and couldn't help but question how this stranger knew these personal things about him. "But I know you want to do good things, Richard, so I welcome you to this school for extraordinary and gifted young adults. We will take care of you, and teach you," J'onn said with assurance, gesturing around him.

"Yeah, I don't really think I'm qualified for this school. I'm not a hero. I don't have powers. I wouldn't exactly fit in."

"You know what a real hero is? Someone who won't cower or cringe from the things that are called evils, or surrender to them, your freedom, or defiance, of which we ought to face any suffering. Richard you are willful and defiant, that's your super power. You will fit right in here," J'onn reassured him wisely before motioning to a hallway. "Come with me." Richard hesitated but did walk with the man.

Even though this J'onn guy just explained what this place was, Richard still found himself doubting its existence. Was there really such a place that would train a person to be the next Superman or Green Lantern?

He walked down the halls, passing lots of what he assumed to be students and teachers, all shapes and sizes. The one thing Richard seemed to notice almost immediately was that everyone here seemed to be enjoying themselves… happy. And that wasn't a look he was used to seeing. Not in the life style he lived in. A few people even waved hello to him, throwing him off guard. Everyone here was different, you couldn't even tell who was a teacher and who was a student. But Richard was highly observant and could see that the students all wore comparable uniforms that were quite captivating, actually, and it reminded him of something a team would train in. This place was so amazing that he became distracted by his surroundings and the environment and he almost didn't notice that J'onn had stopped at a distant dorm room.

So much for being observant.

"You will be staying in this loft, along with four other students." J'onn said opening the door. Richard barely had enough time to look at the apartment like space before he was led to one of the bedrooms."This will be your room, if you choose to stay," he said while opening the door and revealing the space. Richard walked inside the decent-sized plain room. There was a bed, desk, dresser and nightstand. "I know it's not much compared to what you probably had back at the manor, but you do get your own bathroom, and you're free to decorate as you wish." Richard walked around the room, fully taking in the scenery, when suddenly a younger man knocked on the open door before walking in.

"You called for me, J'onn?"

"Richard, this is one of my best students, Victor Stone." J'onn introduced.

Victor stood strong and tall. He had darker skin and a robotic eye next to his normal dark brown one. He seemed around Richard's age, if not a little older. "It's nice to meet you," Victor said firmly, shaking Richard's hand.

"Nice handshake, the robotic engineering is quite lifelike," Richard noted as Victor's hand gave him a strong but gentle squeeze.

Victor did a small chuckle, "Thanks. I think they did a pretty good job fixing me up, but I do tend to tweak it up from time to time."

J'onn looked at his watch. "I'll let you two talk. I have to go meet someone, maybe a potential new student," he said before looking towards Richard. "And Richard, remember, the past may dictate who we are, but we get to determine what we become." And with that he turned and left the room.

"So are you going to join the university?" Victor asked.

Richard sighed. "This is a school for people with abilities. I don't belong here."

"This is a school for people who want to make a difference," Victor corrected him. "You don't need powers to be a part of that."

Richard sat on the empty bed disheartened. The thought of staying here sounded nice, but who was he kidding? He didn't belong here. He grew up closeted and hidden from the world, the last place he belonged was a school.

"There's something else bothering you," Victor noted, sitting down on the bed and slightly changing the weight distribution.

Richard let out a long breath. "It's just, things are complicated. My life is complicated. And I'm not sure where I belong. My parents always told me to spread my wings and fly. But Bruce always said to stay grounded and be prepared and expect the unexpected. I was taught to fight with the 4 S's-strength, skill, speed, and smarts."

"Richard, what happened in your past is in the past, and to put the past behind you, you must accept that you've moved beyond it. No matter how hard it was, you can always begin again."

Richard couldn't help but smirk. "Did you get that from a fortune cookie?" he mused.

Victor smiled, "Maybe, but that doesn't mean it isn't true. You said you don't know where you belong, so maybe you could give this place a try. You could always leave if you wish."

Richard was quiet for a moment as he pondered his decision. He could stay, he could try to start again, he could be a hero, a Titan, and he could do this and never look back. Or, he could just go back on the road, like before, and maybe return to Wayne Manor?...

No!

"Yes."

"So you'll stay?" Victor asked.

Richard turned to him and smiled. "Yes… I'll stay."

Victor smiled and patted him on the back, causing Richard to smile widely before rubbing his now sore back. "Sorry, sometimes I forget how strong I am." Victor apologized sheepishly.

Richard smiled, "Are there other abilities or skills your cyborg body has?"

Victor chuckled and smirked, "Well, I'm strong," He flexed, "I'm smart and a bit of an inventor, and you can say I'm kind of a human pocket knife, or well that's what they call me… Oh and everyone loves this, touch my skin!"

Richard looked at him oddly at his peculiar demand before hesitantly feeling Victor's arm. It was warm and having a closer look Richard noticed Victor's veins glowed like blue L.E.D. lights, as he suddenly felt a tingling upon his head. Curious and slightly startled he got up and ran over to the bathroom mirror and saw his hair was filled with static. "That's amazing!" Richard said with excitement before slicing the static charge out of his hair.

"Electric charge baby." Victor grinned.

They laughed a bit as Victor stood up off the bed. "It's getting kind of late, and I'm sure you would like to get settled into your new room. Would you like me to come get you tomorrow and show you around the loft and school before class starts?" Victor offered.

"Sure." Richard agreed and walked him out, "And thank you, Victor, for your kind hospitality."

Victor smiled and nodded. He wouldn't have given him anything less.

…

Richard took a long shower and now laid reclined on his bed. He had a lot to think about and his mind was currently swarming. The people here showed him kindness, so much in fact that he questioned whether it was all real. He thought back to the big fight he had with Bruce that caused him to pack his bags and leave. He had no plans on returning or even seeing Bruce again. He couldn't, not after the way he was treated there.

A flash of light interrupted his thought as something bright and fire like flew in view of his window. He immediately ran up to it and looked out the glass, he could see deep in the distance something bright fell from the sky and crashed in the terrain.

His curiosity was almost overwhelming as he quickly put on his shoes and grabbed his jacket and belt. He was always one to prepare for anything, Bruce taught him that. He slowly opened up his window and propped himself on the frame before jumping down, and before he could crash on the ground from the 5 story building he quickly grabbed his grappling hook and swung from a nearby tree. He did a small but skilled landing before looking around to see if he was spotted, and just like that he was off to go investigate.

The crash wasn't that far ahead as he rushed through the terrain. He noticed the closer he got the brighter his path became as he moved through the high grass. He could smell a hint of smoke as he moved some brush out of his way. Ahead of him he could see something and he lightened his steps as he grew closer to his destination. He hid behind random trees, peeking forward every once in a while until he reach the crater, and boy what a crater it was.

He looked down it in astonishment as he saw a small object in the center. Carefully he slid down the cliff and upon landing he approached the object cautiously. It was a ship or pod of some sort, and it was surprisingly small to make such a great crater. The closer he got the clearer the ship became and he could see a small window in the high center. He put his face up against the glass and tried glancing inside, only to be blinded by a bright green light. He quickly shielded his eyes before getting a better look at the door of the pod. Against his better instincts he had to find out what was in there.

It didn't take him long to examine the door and figure out how it opened as he grabbed the knob like handle, and with a firm grip pulled… It seemed stuck for a minute but then out of nowhere it fell to the ground with a thunk, causing Richard to back up in response. He waited for something to happen as he stared at the open door, and it wasn't long before he approached it to see what was inside. He had his hand by his belt in case he needed something as he slowly entered the small pod.

The inside was in disarray from the crash and if Richard was paying attention he would have noticed the technology was quite remarkable. But he wasn't paying attention to the ship or any of that for his full attention was on the beautiful alien girl before him. He stared star-struck as he slowly approached the girl. She had golden tan skin, and long shiny red, roseate hair. She wore a tight purple uniform that had long sleeves and pants yet showed her toned stomach. She was curled up in a laying position, probably to protect herself from the impact.

Richard approached her cautiously, "Um… Are you alright?" He asked, reaching down to touch her.

But as he got closer, her eyes opened wide! Startled, he quickly took a step back as she hastily rose up in flight before him and gave him a death glare with her glowing green eyes! He watched her in astonishment and fear as she faced him, her hands glowing with green fire!

"Gotye!" She yelled and he quickly lifted his hands up as she approached him.

"Easy, I'm not here to hurt you." He tried to reassure as his back hit the steel wall of the ship.

"Gotye!" She yelled again and aimed her hands towards him threateningly.

"Do you speak English?" He asked and she slowly stopped and narrowed her eyes in return.

"I'm gonna take that as a no." He noted as she started approaching him again.

"Please, I come in peace." He said with his hands still up in front of him.

He tensed at the heat of her power as she held her hands in front of him and watched him with a wearily eye. He gulped, and his brow began to sweat as he closed his eyes, preparing for impact. But it never came as she suddenly lowered her hands. He peeked open his eyes as the heat subsided and watched as she let the flame in her palms evaporate. He made eye contact with her as she gave him a strange look and suddenly, before he could react she quickly grabbed his shirt and pulled him forward, kissing him forcefully. His eyes immediately widened at the interaction and before he could move or act she threw him down against the hard ground of the steel wall.

"Who are you?" She asked with her eyes still glowing bright. He almost stuttered at her English and still tried to recover over the fact she just kissed him."State your name!" She demanded, as her hands began to light up again.

"I'm Grayson, Richard Grayson." He said quickly.

"Are you friend are foe?"

"Friend." He said easily and was relieved when she lowered her hands, letting the fire dissolve once more.

He watched as she stood up straight, her glowing green eyes fading, they were still a bright green but now he could see the difference between her pupils and irises. "I wish to know the name of this planet." She spoke in a much lighter tone.

"Earth." He answered, still a little on edge. "Can… can I ask your name?"

"I am princess Koriand'R of Tamaran." She addressed professionally.

He nodded and slowly stood up before handing her his hand. "Nice to meet you." She stared at it questionably for a minute before putting her hand out in the same fashion. He lightly smiled at the gesture and sheepishly put his hand down.

They both abruptly turned to the door as they heard a noise and the sound of soft voices outside. Richard quickly turned to the girl beside him just to see she had quickly lit up her hands and eyes to defend herself. "No, no, It's okay." Richard said carefully putting his hands on her arms, lowering them down. "I'll take care of this." He reassured and she lowered her defenses and nodded, trusting him.

Richard walked out of the pod with Koriand'R behind him as they were approached. "Well hello Richard." J'onn greeted in surprise.

"J'onn?"

"I see you have found our new guest." J'onn said gesturing to Koriand'R before greeting her. "Welcome to Earth princess." He said with a small bow.

Koriand'R slowly walked out from behind Richard and did a small smile at the greeting.

"I thank you for your kindness."

"Oh I see you have already learned English, I'm sure Richard was happy to assist you with that." J'onn said smirking towards Richard, causing him to slightly color.

"You seem to know a lot about me, yet I know nothing of you. I wish for that to change." Koriand'R said sternly.

"Of course. Let me introduce myself, my name is J'onn J'onzz. I run the school you see before you." He said gesturing to the academy behind him in the distance. "We would like to invite you to become a student here, like your new friend Richard, he just arrived today." Koriand'R couldn't help but glance back at Richard as J'onn spoke. "Now Koriand'R I know you've had a troubling and traumatizing few months, you have endured a lot, and I understand you are probably frightened and more likely terrified. But I can assure you this school is a safe place, and I would be honored if you joined the academy for extraordinary and gifted young adults. We will take care of you and teach you."

The princess was clearly hesitant as she glance back and forth from J'onn to her ship. "I… I am not sure." She said uncertain. She honestly wasn't expecting to get offered a place to stay in the first five minutes of landing on Earth.

"I know, in less than a month you have lost so much, your friends, your family, your home. And I know we could never replace the things you've lost. But just as old friends pass new friends appear, just like the days. An old day passes, and a new day arrives. The important thing is to make it meaningful … No distance can separate you from the people you love, as long as the memory of them lives in your heart, they will always be with you…"

J'onn's words touched Koriand'R's heart in many ways as he spoke from his own, and surprisingly he showed her a secret, a secret that very little people knew about…

 _'So always remember princess, you are not alone, you will give love and be loved, for you are love.'_

Koriand'R didn't question how she could hear J'onn in her head, nor did she fear it, for she knew him showing her this side of him proved he was someone she could trust.

Koriand'R smiled up at him, "I… I would like to except your offer, to stay."

J'onn smiled before looking behind him and addressing the woman who had been there the whole time. "Koriand'R, this is Shiera Hall. She will tell you all you need to know to prepare yourself for your first day of class tomorrow. Speaking of which, it's late and we should all head back and get some rest, Shiera will show you to your corridors." J'onn said slowly walking the girls back to the academy before stopping. He turned his head to the side to address Richard who hadn't moved this whole time. "I recommend you do the same Richard, you are a student now after all." J'onn said smirking, before continuing on with the girls. "Now I know it's no royal chamber, but I hope you will like it. " J'onn continued on…

…

It was around 8 when Victor came knocking on Richards door. Richard had already been up for a while, he tended to be a early riser, plus he wasn't able to get much sleep from the scene he had witnessed the night before. There were a lot of things on his mind at the moment, like the alien who crash landed, and how beautiful she was, and how she kissed him, and how she was now, apparently, a student at the school. He would be lying if he said he wasn't excited by the fact he might be able to see her again.

Victor knocked on the door and had given Richard a kind morning greeting before showing him around the loft space. There wasn't much to see of the loft, there were five bedrooms and three bathrooms, and Richard was thankful he happened to have got the room with the connecting private bathroom, unlike the others who have to share. The kitchen was small and he was told that they tended to go to the large cafeteria for meals, but it was not mandatory. All that was left was the living room, there was a L-shaped couch along with a big flat screen and many video game consoles in front of it.

Richard couldn't help but stare at the Wii, Xbox, and Play Station. "Hey, what can I say, we like our video games." Victor shrugged sheepishly.

"We?" Richard questioned.

"Me and Gar. Speaking of which I'm shocked the grass stain isn't up yet, class will be starting soon." He noted before escorting Richard out of the loft. "Now we start the school tour." He proclaimed as they walked down the halls of the academy. Richard took this moment to slowly glance at the cyborg next to him, unlike the night before, Richard noticed today Victor was now dressed in the school uniform he had seen so many people wear the day before, and it was oddly complimentary to his big muscled form. And he secretly couldn't wait until he got one too.

"Don't worry I'll get you one of these later." Victor spoke somewhat out of nowhere.

"Excuse me?" Richard questioned.

"You were either checking me out or my uniform, I'm hoping it's the latter."

"I was checking out the uniform, trust me!" Richard defended quickly, his hands rising.

Victor smirked, "Good, cause I don't swing that way. Not that I'm saying it's wrong if you do."

Richard inwardly chuckled, "Um thanks, but I'm straight."

The awkward yet humorous discussion ended just in time for them to arrive at the Kitchen, or rather cafeteria. It was a large modern kitchen that some tended to refer to as a cafeteria because of its size. They both had a big breakfast and Victor explained more about the history of the school and what they really do here. Richard tried to pay attention, he really did, but there was someone he just couldn't seem to get off his mind.

After they ate they continued on with the tour, there was so much in the huge mansion that Victor could only show so much at this time. But he was able to show Richard the outsized indoor pool, and the big fancy Gym before showing him the cozy lounge room which consisted of a neat seating arrangement around a huge flat screen.

Richard was overwhelmed, this place was indescribable.

"-And we have over 1,000 channels." Victor spoke.

Richard glanced back and forth around the room as Victor continued, and neither of them was aware that they were now being watched. Victor smiled and grabbed a remote and was about to show Richard the cool intense sound system when out of knower he was attack by a very interesting boy who hopped on his back.

The boy was clearly around Richard's age but not quite as big as he clung to the tall Cyborg like a monkey of sorts, and Richard couldn't help but be taken aback by his appearance. He had green features like skin, hair, and eyes? His ears were pointed and he had fangs? He was like some sort of elf or goblin? All in all he was very strange looking and caught Richard off guard. Richard quickly grabbed a weapon from his pocket and was about to attack, but he stopped seeing that Victor was smiling at the boy.

"What's up Vic?" The boy asked as his hair filled with static charge.

"Garfield, meet the new kid, Richard."

Richard watched him curiously, analyzing the situation, before putting away his weapon. "What's up new dude?" Garfield smirked giving out a hand to shake. Richard wearily walked up to him and was about to shake his hand from Victor's shoulders when he noticed the sharp claws his hand contained. "Oops sorry." Garfield said taking his hand back and retracting the nails.

He put his hand back out for Richard to shake now that it was back to a basic human hand. Richard shook it but couldn't help but speak his thoughts out loud as he did so, "You're… green?" He questioned and he felt kind of stupid for stating something so obvious. He had seen a lot of interesting people in his life, especially today and the day before, but none of them were green? Or so he knew.

"You are new here." The boy noted rolling his eyes before changing the subject and turning towards his robotic friend. "So Vic, you ready for combat practice?" He asked eagerly.

"I don't need to be ready to kick your butt green bean."

"Bring it on tin head! I'm ganna go find Raven!" Garfield announced before jumping off of Victor's shoulders, morphing into a green bird and flying away.

Richard watched this in alarm, "Did, did he just turn into a bird?" He blinked.

Victor smiled. "Garfield's a changeling, he can morph into animals. It's really cool but not much of a disguise since the animals are always green."

"Well why is he green?" Richard asked.

Victor gave him a perplexed look, wondering how he was going to explain this? It was like asking him how he became a cyborg. "Well, when Gar was a kid he got infected with a virus, and the cure had some… intense side effects." That was the best way to sum it up for the moment.

"So what did he look like, before?"

"No one really knows, and no one really asks, it's a sensitive subject." Richard could understand that. "We all have our back-stories, some more tragic then others."

Now Richard had worked with robots and robotic body parts before with Bruce, so Victor didn't seem that out of the ordinary, but this Garfield fellow, he… he was just weird. He had seen a lot of strange people today but none of them were that out of the ordinary, or so they seemed. And Richard couldn't help but think about how the changelings clothes seamed to vanish as he morphed, like some sort of camouflage effect? And it got him thinking about how cool the school uniforms were. A lot of them were black but some of them were gray. The tops looked like one of those rash guard shirts but had a different fabric, and the cargo pants matched. There were also belts and ankle combat boots included with the outfit. All in all Richard had to admit he wanted one.

"So when am I getting one of those cool uniforms, again?" Richard asked.

"I'll take you to get one after school, but I'll warn you, there not just for looks, you never know what's going to happen in class. The teachers tend to spring some interesting tests on you."

"I was raised to deal with conflict and challenges, I think I'll be fine." Richard smirked.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." Victor said as a bell rang throughout the academy, "Come on its combat time, and I have some green butt to kick," He said excitedly.

They rushed down the hall and into a big room where there were other students around their age. Everyone was either doing one on one with each other or going through obstacle courses. Richard easily spotted the green Garfield and saw he was fighting with an eccentric girl, with dark night sky hair, light pale skin and piercing red eyes. She was mysteriously alluring.

"Who's the girl with Garfield?"

"Oh that's Raven, trust me you don't want to get on her bad side."

Richard couldn't help but notice Garfield apparently didn't get the memo. He watched as the girl plunged her arms up, picking up a large machine with a strange black influence and threw it at Garfield, luckily he managed to quickly dodge it just in time.

"Wow, what's her ability?" Richard had to ask.

Another tough one to put into words. "Raven's powers are complicated, she controls... energy," Victor tried to explain, "And just like energy her powers can expand."

"Interesting." Richard couldn't help but say as he watched Garfield morph into a cheetah and run around the girl.

"I will banish your mortal soul, Logan!" Raven yelled, annoyed with the green animal taunting her.

"Okay, what's that about?" Richard asked startled by the girl's outburst.

Victor smiled. "Raven is…special."

"What?"

"Let's just say her back story might be the worst of all."

Richard was pulled out of that thought as Raven picked up another huge object and threatened to throw it at Garfield as he quickly tried to maneuver away from her wrath. And Richard started to wonder how she was even considered a hero as the girl continued to threaten the changeling's life.

Victor saw Richard's feared expression and felt the need to console him. "Relax, Ravens all talk. She might have a bit of a temper but she's usually just quiet and sarcastic, and really doesn't mean any harm."

It was strange, even though this girl made Richard feel nervous and somewhat frightened, she somehow made him feel better, if she is accepted here then maybe he can be too.

"Gar, I swear I am capable of banishing you!" She threatened again.

Garfield smirked and stuck is tongue out at her before he morphed and falcon flew over to Victor and Richard. He landed on Victor's shoulders and morphed back with a cocky smile on his face. "Yeah, she digs me. The lady's love the pointy ears." He smirked wiggling them.

"Just keep telling yourself that." Victor said rolling his eyes.

"W-wait. You like her? She just attempted to kill you." Richard spoke in surprise.

"It's called flirting." Garfield defended.

"Ha, Yeah, green bean here has liked her since the day she arrived, but refuses to do anything about it."

"Yeah, while I'm doing that I'll pick out a green casket. Anyway did you hear that J'onn found another new student?"

"Really?" Victor asked and Richard couldn't help but suddenly show interest.

"Yeah, last night." Garfield went on and as if on cue J'onn walked up with the new girl beside him, and Richard couldn't help but stare star-struck once again. Unlike last night today she had normal looking clothes, and her all out appearance seamed… happier. And Richard had to admit it was a great look for her.

"Mister Logan, you can't keep your mouth shut can you?" J'onn teased before turning to Victor. "Victor I have another new student I would like you to show around, if you don't mind. This is Koriana, your new roommate. She's not from this world, clearly, and is eager to learn Earth's customs."

"Greetings," Koriana said before walking up to them, and before anyone could tell what she was doing she gave them each a sudden bone crushing hug. Garfield practically crippled at her strength, and it took a lot of effort for him to seem unfazed. Victor was surprised that she hugged him but luckily didn't feel much of her strength in the hold. Richard did tense at her embrace but not from her strength, more from the contact itself. With all the bone crushing commotion Raven decided to see what all the fuss was about, but as soon as she approached the group Koriana squealed and ran up to hug her as well, which Raven didn't seem to excitedly greet. "And a greetings to you my first female Earth friend!" Koriana greeted cheerfully.

Raven tried to control herself as she was squeezed in the tight hug and she worked hard to control her emotions as her eyes tempted to faze red again. She hated human interactions. Thankfully that was one thing Richard seemed to notice from the start, and he also took note that her eyes seemed to change color to reflect her mood, which is very helpful. "Um Koriana… Raven doesn't really like to be hugged, or touched," Garfield tried to tell her as Raven stiffened and clenched her eyes shut.

"Yeah he would be the expert on that," Victor whispered towards Richard, before clearing his throat. "So Koriana, do you have any other ability's? I mean clearly your super strong, what else can you do?" He asked.

Koriana looked at him perplexed, not fully comprehending what he meant. "Um… I do not understand?"

Richard very well knew she had other powers for he witnessed them firsthand the night before, and decided to help her out in understanding what Victor meant. "When Victor says abilities he means like powers, or gifts, you know, like flight or glowing hands and eyes? He tried to clarify.

Koriana then grinned in comprehension, "Oh yes." She answered before taking off in fast flight and flying over to a machine far bigger then herself, and everyone watched with amazement as she picked it up with one hand as if it weighed nothing , and If that wasn't perplexing enough she then looked up and green fire like beams bolted out of her eyes, melting the metal. Richard was amazed, clearly she was capable of more than what he was expecting.

"We're going to need a new obstacle course," Raven said bluntly, somewhat unfazed, unlike the boys beside her who had to pick their mouths up from off the ground.

Koriana giddily flew back to them, "On my world everyone can do that, but here it's uncommon, yes?"

The boys were speechless and before they could even respond another alarm rang threw the room. Victor quickly recovered, "It's time for class," He informed them.

"Class? I thought this was class?" Richard asked gesturing to the combat room.

"Combat practice is more like… recess." Garfield answered as they turned and went to leave the room, but before they could J'onn stopped them at the door. "Hold on, I'm sending you five out, I want you to show our new students what we are all about here."

"Sweet," Garfield said excitedly.

"Out?" Richard questioned.

"Sometimes when a villain, 'AKA bad guy', escapes from prison or just decides to go crazy J'onn sends students out to take them down and bring them back, if he doesn't think they're too dangerous," Victor informed him.

"So we're like cops?" Richard asked.

"Oh we're far better than cops." Raven smirked.

"So J'onn, who are we taking to jail this time?" asked Garfield rubbing is hands together.

"Mother," He answered.

"Mother?" Asked Koriana.

"She's a religious witch, that supposedly makes everything pure with her magic," Victor responded.

"She's a real pain," Raven added.

"Last time we took her to jail she combed my hair," Garfield whined.

"You say that like it's a bad thing?" Raven responded earning a glare from the changeling.

…

Victor quickly broke up the pair before another fight could start and they all ran back to the dorm, leaving Richard and Koriana in the living room 'alone'. Richard tried not to be nervous over that fact and instead turned to face her. He opened his mouth to try and start a conversation but the words wouldn't leave his lips. He was normally so smooth, calm and collected. How could one simple girl make him so flabbergasted? But then again she wasn't just any girl… She was beautiful and stunning and, and she is now talking…

"It's… very nice to see you again Richard." She said bashfully.

"Likewise." He said but immediately regretted his choice of words as she gave him a confused look. "I mean I feel the same way." He corrected and was relieved when she gave him a nice smile.

Victor suddenly walked out of his room around the same time Raven and Garfield walked out of theirs. They all wore fancy uniforms that Richard couldn't help but ogle at. "Every hero needs a costume, don't worry we'll get you some of these later," Victor said before they rushed down the halls and out of the school, into the garage. Richard then watched in shock as they got into a beautiful car. He tried to play it cool but there was only so much one man could do."I see you like my baby." Victor smirked before starting the automobile as everyone hopped into the car.

"Hey Vic, can I drive?" Garfield asked eagerly from the backseat.

"Nope." Victor responded plainly before starting the car.

Richard shook his head clearing his mind from the vehicle. This was no time to gawk, they were going on a mission, and upon realizing that, Richard's eyes widened again, they were on a mission, a real mission!

…

The car went to a dramatic stop as they spotted the old woman down town.

"She looks like an ordinary old lady?" Richard questioned, getting out of the car.

"Wait for it," Raven cautioned, and they watched as the old bat turned around to reveal a horrid, witch like face.

"She's hideous!" Koriana shrieked, causing the witch to turn and glare at her.

"Shush, you'll piss her off," Garfield warned which also got her attention.

The witch turned to him and smiled sweetly, causing him to jump. "Garfield sweetie, it's okay if you want to be a cute little bunny, but green, no that's the color of mucus and boogers, Mother does not approve. How about a sweeter color like pink," The so called good doer said before snapping her fingers. Garfield closed his eyes preparing for impact as pink magic incased him and subsided to reveal him in a pink fluffy rabbit suit. "There now you can still be an animal, and an adorable one I might add." She said sweetly.

The others couldn't help but snicker at Garfield's expense. "Really, pink?" He shrieked fully inspecting his new outfit, "God, I look like Ralphie."

"Who?" Raven question, and Garfield's mouth almost dropped.

"A Christmas story!" She still didn't get it and it caused him to sigh in defeat, "Forget it."

The others really tried to pull themselves together. This was serious, and they need to act like professionals. But really… this was also kind of hilarious. The woman then faced Raven and Victor with a smirk upon her wart covered mouth, "Raven dear, you ware to much black, a nice sun dress will help, you're a lady after all. And Victor, I wouldn't want you to get your weird gears and gadgets wet and rusty, how about a rain coat to protect you?" She offered. The young heroes couldn't keep up with her changes as Mother left them in a cloud of pink magic before turning to Koriana. "Young lady you show too much skin," She scolded pointing to the girl's low cut revealing half-shirt, "Sweetie a nice sweater will do the trick and cover you up."

"Please I do not wish…" Koriana began as the pink magic incased her.

Richard quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out a weapon, but before he could act the woman turned to him and spoke. "Now young man that looks dangerous, I wouldn't want you to get hurt," And before Richard could react the witch turned his once well hand crafted weapon into a rubber squeaky toy.

The young Heroes looked at each other, bewildered at their outlandish attire. They looked ridiculous!

"Really a dress?" Raven spat almost horrified.

"Hey at least you're not in a bunny suit." Garfield commented.

Richard squeaked his weapon, still in shock.

"My sweater itches," Koriana said scratching the itchy wool.

 _*squeak._

"Well you're used to being a colorful animal," Raven commented to Garfield's previous remark.

"Hey guys!" Victor shouted at his bickering team. "Let's take down this witch!" He ordered, harshly removing his yellow rain coat.

The woman gasped. "That is no way to talk to your Mother." She once again snapped her fingers as a bar of soap appeared in Victor's mouth.

He spat it out with disgust, "Bla… Attack!"

Raven was somehow able to turn her power towards her outfit, letting the energy evaporate the dress. She then turned towards the old woman and with a disgusted face she thrusted her arms out, letting her dark energy magic fling street objects up and at the witch. The Woman continued to scold the young heroes as she ducked out of the way, but before she could lash back at her attackers a green goat rammed into her, forcing her to fall hard on the ground.

Richard watched the scene before him and quickly got an idea. He got Victor's attention and gestured towards the path the witch was being pushed towards. Victor smiled and nodded as they took action.

Koriana watched the others and got the idea of what she was supposed to do. With her strength she yanked off the itchy sweater before rising up to the sky. She closed her eyes and when they opened they were the piercing glowing green they were the night before. She opened up her fists as they lit up with fire and she skillfully threw the green energy at the villain, forcing the witch to run backwards into Victor and Richards's newly enabled snare.

The old woman sat in the middle of the street and angrily struggled as they sealed the noose around her. "This is no way to treat your mother!" She spat.

Richard couldn't help but look at her confusedly, "lady you're not my mother." He said as the police arrived at the scene.

This… was surprisingly easy. They had defeated Mother with ease working as a team. But before they could celebrate and return to the academy they had to destroy and burn any evidence of those awful clothes.

…

Richard couldn't help but be somewhat excited as they drove back to the school, all he could think about was how good it felt kicking that witch's butt, bringing her to jail, and working as a team for justice and the greater good.

"That was amazing!" He said excitedly. But take note that Richard's excitement isn't like a normal persons excitement, He was raised with Bruce after all.

Victor, Garfield and even Raven looked at one another and smiled, remembering the first time they got out in the field. It's definitely something to think about. "Welcome to our world."

"It was great." And it felt right and so, so… good. Maybe this was the side he belonged on after all.

"Yes it was most wonderful," Koriana added with glee.

"I mean Garfield you just knocked her down, and Raven you were so fast, and Koriana you, you were amazing." Richard spoke out loud, looking at her.

She couldn't help but smile at Richard's comment. "The people on my planet are good warriors, we are trained from when we are small to think fast and take action."

"Well you were incredible."

She blushed, "You were incredible as well."

"Hey what was that thing you threw at her?" Garfield asked, butting in.

"What this?" Richard asked pulling out another weapon from his pocket. "Me and Bruce used to design all sorts of weapons and hazardous toys."Actually it was one of the rare things he did with Bruce. The man taught Richard how to use many weapons, guns, bows, even nunchucks. But his favorite was the ones they designed.

"Well they're very cool!" Garfield complemented as they walked back to class.

But as soon as they entered the classroom the door dramatically shut behind them. Before any of them could react they each were blindfolded and separated. It all happened so fast, no one knew what was going on. Was this a test, or were they being attacked?

Richard finally managed to free himself from his blindfold just to see he was in a small classroom, alone, with no way out. Yep it was a school classroom, well a music room to be more specific, with no windows, air vents, or doors. But it had a chalk board and desks, so technically it was a classroom. He was beyond confused. This had to be some sort of joke. It was clearly some sort of simulation of sorts. He looked around wearily, but it seemed like any ordinary music room, until the instruments started moving.

This just got weirder and weirder…

Richard hovered his hand over his holster, prepared to defend himself if needed as he watched a robotic walking trumpet trot over to him and remove a piece of itself. Richard stared at it wearily as the trumpet walked up and hit him, Hard! And the others quickly followed. Richard quickly shielded himself, dodging and ducking. But there were too many. He was surrounded and outnumbered when suddenly a huge green beam shot threw the wall, taking out half of the army. Richard couldn't help but smirk. "I like these numbers better." He said before skillfully taking out the other half before walking over to investigate the hole the beam left. Being that it was his only way out he climbed threw it just to bump into Koriana.

"Richard!" She beamed, hugging him, "I am glad to see a familiar face."

"Koriana do you know what's going on?" He asked, trying to seem unfazed over the fact that she had just hugged him again.

"I do not, I hoped you knew. Once I freed myself from being blinded, I found I was in the room of history, and before I could react the pictures on the walls came to life and attacked me."

"It's okay Koriana, Victor told me the teachers here like to do all sorts of crazy things to test the student's skills. I think this is just some sort of simulation." He observed looking around.

A sudden explosion from down the hall caught there attention as they ran towards it, and upon arriving they found Garfield on the floor of the opposite wall rubbing his head. "Garfield, are you okay?" Koriana asked.

"Ow." He groaned, "I hate math."

"Do you know what's going on?" Richard asked as him and Koriana helped him up.

"Oh it's just another school test. Now come on let's find the others." He encouraged as the three of them began to run down the hall. They ran down the empty halls until a door appeared and they were quick to barged through it, just to knock into Raven and Victor.

"Friends!" Koriana beamed.

"Oh great we're all together." Victor smiled. "Okay so clearly we are dealing with a schoolhouse theme here." He noticed.

"Why do they always put me in math?" Garfield asked in annoyance.

"Math will do you good Gar." Victor told him teasingly.

"Yeah well where did you end up Tin man?" Garfield asked harshly.

"I got some sort of computer lab." Victor answered.

"I got music class." Richard mentioned.

"I was in history." Koriana began. "It's not my best subject." She said sheepishly rubbing her arm. "What about you, Raven?" She asked turning towards her.

"Gym." Raven drawled drawing attention to the basketball she was holding on her hip.

"What now? Asked Richard, "Do we have a plan?"

"Most of the class simulations tend to be playful, and hard at times. It's like a sport, a competitive one, and to win you must have-"

"Skill, Strength, Speed, and Smarts?" Richard finished with a smirk.

"Or just pure luck," Victor added, "Think of it as a video game." He tried to explain.

"But the teacher is the prize." Garfield added.

"Could we have come up with a better example?" Raven drawled.

They ignored her as Victor made a arm gesture down a path. "Come on lets go." He told them as they quickly began to run. They hurriedly ran down the hall almost running out of breath as they didn't seem to get anywhere.

"These hallways seem to go on forever." Koriana observed.

"Not really, it's just an illusion." Victor explained as they turned a corner just to come to a dead end.

"What now?" Garfield asked, catching his breath.

No one responded as they all looked around for a possible way out. Richard leaned forward and inspected the front wall before his eyes widened. "LOOK OUT!" He yelled pouncing on his friends before the wall exploded.

Of course no one was seriously hurt as they coughed and dusted themselves off. Victor quickly got up and looked at the gaping hole the blast had left. The others inspected it as Richard kindly helped Koriana up. She smiled and took his hand, before they joined the others. Through the hole was a battle field full of the other students.

"Look there," Garfield pointed, "That's our prize."

The goal.

The teacher, Hal Jordan, stood atop a large staircase waiting for someone to reach him. And below him were the other students fighting off school themed robots and drones.

"So how do we get to him?" Asked Richard.

Garfield smirked. "We charge!" He shouted running out into the storm.

"Gar wait!" Victor hollered chasing after him. Raven couldn't help but roll her eyes and sigh before doing the same.

Koriana looked towards Richard, "Should we follow our friends?" Without answering he grabbed her hand and they ran.

Garfield reached the staircase, followed by the others. "Gar wait, we're a team and were supposed to work together." Victor said grabbing his shoulder, stopping him from running up the stairs.

"Is it just me or was this too easy?" Raven asked joining them.

They looked around confused as Richard and Koriana caught up. They quickly shrugged off the simplicity of the task before running up the staircase. This was too easy, they were at their goal, they managed to avoid the small obstacles and obstructions and make it here, easy?

Too easy.

They were almost at the top when Hal smirked and pressed a button, turning the staircase into a slide. "Recess." He said smugly, adding to the school house theme.

"That's new." Victor blinked before the boy's did a face plant and slid down the slip. The girls quickly flew to the air and followed the boy's as Garfield looked down. At the end of the slide the floor dropped to a gapping overhang. He yelped and quickly morphed into an octopus and stuck to the slide before catching Richard and Victor. The girl's then grabbed on to his arms and swung all three boys at Hal, and just like that class was dismissed.

They helped each other up including Hal as he addressed them, "I'm impressed, great team work," He complimented. "If we gave out grades I would definitely give you all an A." He smiled.

…

When class was over Victor, Garfield and Raven excitedly took Koriana and Richard to get mission wear and a school uniform. And Richard now had a better understanding of their school outfits and now can see how they would really help in class.

The pair was pulled to a certain part of the school were they entered a store like room. It kind of reminded Richard of a sportings good store. The team was then separated by gender specific areas. Raven took Koriana into one as Victor and Garfield took Richard into the other. There were so many outfits, shoes, gloves and belts. It was overwhelming. They explained to Richard and Koriana that for your school outfit you get to choose a gray or black uniform with any color of stitching that framed the hem. Example, Victor has gray with neon blue stitching, Garfield also has gray with dark purple stitching, and Raven has black with dark blue stitching.

Richard and Koriana looked at their color options. It was exciting how they got to express their personalities in their wardrobe colors. After skimming threw their options, Koriana chose gray with bright purple stitching and Richard ended up with black with red stitching. The uniforms were surprisingly comfortable and form fitting, but they didn't have much time to look at them as they were on to the next costume.

Next was there mission uniforms.

Victors' uniform had a lot of metal and looked like an armor suit with the colors black, white, gray and hints of LED blue. He can literally attach it to his body and become a human machinegun if need be. But being that its mechanical means it needs special care and needs charged from time to time.

Garfield's uniform is very special and had to be specially designed, for it has to camouflage to his skin when he morphs. Appearance wise it's a simple short sleeve long pants uniform, with the colors black, white, gray and purple. And he sports the outfit with gray combat boots and a belt.

Ravens outfit is very unique too, for its supposedly what she wore back home, wherever that may be. Now she uses it as her uniform for it fits well with her powers. It's a black short sleeved and shorts one piece. She has tall thigh length dark blue boots and a metal jeweled belt that fits loosely around her waist. She also has blue wrist bands and her signature dark blue hooded cloak, making her look very mysterious…

Richard glanced around the store at his options before figuring out exactly what he wanted. He tried to make it simple picking black pants and a red and black protected shirt. He grabbed black combat boots and a black and yellow utility belt to hold his weapons and well… utilities. He picked out heavy duty black gloves and finished the outfit with a black and yellow cape, because well… it looked cool.

Once he was dressed he looked up at his reflection in the mirror. He stared at himself for a long time, looking at his jet black hair and blue eyes, and sighed, he looked just like his father. No, not Bruce. Though he looked like him as well, that wasn't who he was talking about. He then turned around seeing the reflection of Koriana and his mouth almost dropped.

After running around gleefully, Koriana had finally picked something similar to the clothes she had on her home planet, a sleeveless purple half top and shorts with some matching purple thigh length boots. She had gone to her room and grabbed some jewelry she had from home to sport the outfit with. A metal neck plate, a metal plated belt and metal plated wrist bands that all had green gems on them that just so happened to match her eyes.

"Do… I look nice?" She asked bashfully and Richard could only nod in response, nice was a understatement.

Garfield then ran forward excitedly with a camera in hand as they all posed in front of the mirror to capture this wonderful moment. And Richard couldn't help but smile with the others. This was better then what he had expected this to be, and he was glad with his decision to stay.

For the best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.

…

 _Keep Your Eyes Open- NeedToBreathe._


	2. Chapter 1

Titans

Chapter 1.

Two years later.

August.

Saturday.

Oh the wonder of Saturday, the best day of the week. No simulations or combat practice, and you were free to do whatever you wanted. Some weekends were casual where our young heroes would spend their time hanging out in their living room, Garfield and Victor playing video games, Raven reading one of her books, Richard listening to music while Koriana observed it all. But when they weren't roaming or hanging out at the academy they were running around town, enjoying their youth.

The movie theater was always fun, when and if they can decide on what to watch. They're all so different and it's a miracle if they can agree on something. Victor liked futuristic or Sci-Fi movies; he loved a look into the future or a prospect of a new way of life. And it could give him some interesting ideas for something to build. Garfield, being the jokester that he was, loved a good laugh and would watch anything with good comedy in it. If only they improved his jokes. Richard preferred action and enjoyed highly choreographed and concentrated scenes. Plus he couldn't help but be somewhat proud of himself for being able to replicate almost every scene he saw. Koriana on the other hand wanted something sweet, tender and romantic. She could only wish that someday someone would show her the type of love and romance she longed for. And then there's Raven, being the dark girl that she was she preferred horror, she might not like watching TV that much, but she did get some sick enjoyment out of some good gore.

But on a nice day like this particular Saturday the team decided on going to their favorite pizza place. They sat down at their usual table and looked over the menus and it wasn't long before Victor put his down satisfied with his decision. "I say the meat lover's supreme." He declared leaning back on his chair.

"I second that vote." Richard agreed, putting down his menu.

"Dudes," Garfield objected, "I've been most of those animals!" He said somewhat dramatically.

"Gar, no one wants your vegetarian pizza." Victor mocked.

"I hate to say it but it does sound better than the carnivore supreme." Raven confessed.

"That's my girl. See, she's on my side." Garfield said putting his arm around Raven's shoulder.

"Don't touch me." She stated making him nervously retreat.

"How can you not eat meat if you have been a carnivore?" Richard asked not fully understanding the logic of Garfield's diet.

"I've been the animals the carnivore eats." Garfield answered simply.

"Why would someone like pineapple on pizza?" Koriana asked still observing her menu.

"This is why you are so bony; you need meat on your bones green bean." Victor joked.

Garfield huffed and rolled his eyes as the waitress approached the table. "Have you made your decision?" She asked smiling, a pen and pad in her hand.

"Can I get a pizza with peanut butter and mustard on it?" Koriana asked innocently with a smile and the waitress almost dropped her notepad as the others all turned to Koriana. She couldn't help but look at them confused as they all gave her a puzzled look. "Was it something I said?" She asked.

Richard leaned closely to her, "Um… Kori, not everything on the menu is a pizza topping." He said quietly in her direction.

"Oh." She blushed, "Um well then I would just like the cheese."

"Okay how about one cheese and one pepperoni." Richard suggested and the others nodded in agreement, and again Richard was there to save the day.

…

A comfortable silence settled in the restaurant as they all ate their lunch. "So guys, "Victor started before swallowing his bite, "What should we do after this?"

"Well it's a nice day, we should do something outside." Richard recommended.

"Like what?" Garfield asked.

"Well we could go to the park or maybe the beach…" Richard suggested before getting interrupted.

"The beach, as in swimming?" Koriana asked and Richard nodded, "Oh friends lets go to the beach!" She said excitedly, jumping in her seat as each of her friends either nodded or shrugged in agreement.

"So it's settled then, we're going to the beach!" Garfield said overly enthusiastically.

…

After they finished eating and paid they went back to the academy, put on their swim suits and grabbed their beach supplies before hopping into Victor's car, taking the long trip down to the shore line. It was a perfect day for the beach; the sun was out and shining without a cloud in sight. Victor drove while Raven read in the passenger seat and Garfield and Richard sat in the back with Koriana in the middle, who giddily hopped up in down with excitement.

Garfield held out a map far bigger then what was necessary and tried to navigate, and needless to say they got lost many times and he was no longer the Navigator. This simple beach trip was apparently a little more than they bargained for as they pulled over more than once off the side of the road. There were many beaches to choose from, but none of them seamed good enough for the young teens. The boys being boys argued with one another while the girls rolled their eyes and just asked for directions. With someone as gorgeous as Koriana in a bright bikini on the side of the road, it took only a matter of seconds for someone to stop and asked if they could be in assistance. So they wasted an hour of their daylight with maps and navigation, but they did finally make it to the beach.

As soon as the car stopped Koriana flew out through the sun roof before the others could even unbuckle their seat belts. She landed and instantly started twirling around, loving the feel of the warm sand beneath her toes. With a quick jump she rose to the sky again and did a graceful dive into the water and within seconds she sprouted up from it smiling, "Oh friends the water is joyous!" She beamed before diving backwards. Richard watched on with a smile as she enjoyed the water in the way that only Koriana could. "Richard come on, join me!" She hollered pushing her long hair back out of her face, and he didn't hesitate. He ran in after her and sprung forward, tackling the gleeful alien. The others considered their actions to be quite playful and flirty as they lightheartedly splashed one another and laughed. Everyone could see from their first day that they liked one another, and it was only a matter of time before they would get together.

Everyone slowly spread out around the coastline, doing their own thing. Victor began to prepare the grill; even though they just ate he knew they would be hungry again in only a matter of time. So he tied his favorite apron around himself, smirking down at the quote on it- 'Mister good lookin is cookin.' He began to prepare the meat and put the dogs and paddies on the grill, making sure to stick a green flagged toothpick in the tofu ones. Normally he could tell which was which, but there had been one dreadful day where he took a bite out of the artificial meat and never felt the same.

Raven sat on a beach towel in the sand and continued to read her book. She didn't much care for the beach, she didn't swim, she hated the sun, and she didn't like wearing the revealing swimsuits. But most of all she hated the annoying changeling, for as soon as she got settled in she felt a blast of water hit her cheek. Startled she looked up in irritation to see none other than Garfield holding a squirt gun. "Woops, ha… I guess it's a little trigger sensitive." He said sheepishly.

She blew the first time off as an accident but the second time was definitely on purpose. Once it happened again she slammed her book down and glared at him as he sheepishly cowered, and with a rise of her hand and a gripped fist his plastic toy was crushed in black energy in his hands. Raven smiled and opened up her book again just to get sprayed again. As soon as the moisture touched her face she stood up livid and stared at the giant green elephant before her. "You're gonna pay for that Dombo!" She yelled running after the creature, power ready to strangle.

Meanwhile…

Koriana looked around in the water for her friend. He was just here a second ago, playing with her and she was debating whether she should inform the others that she had lost Richard when out of nowhere he popped out of the water picking her up in his arms. She screamed in excitement but before they could continue their moment of enjoyment they were interrupted by the sound of an elephant getting his nose twisted into a knot. In concern Richard quickly put her down and they ran towards the commotion. "Raven what's going on?" Richard asked in alarm.

"Nothing, everything is fine." She said calmly sitting on a rock out of the water.

"Where is Garfield?" Koriana asked.

Raven casually shrugged as she hopped off the bolder and walked away, upon doing so she released the energy the currently held Garfield under water. The changelings head immediately sprung from the surface and gasped for air. "It was just a joke!" he coughed, "You could have killed me!"

"But I didn't." She responded smiling, before calmly walking away.

But before Garfield or the others could protest any further in the matter Victor hollered from the grill, "Foods done!"

After they ate their late lunch, Victor set up the valley ball net, which they all were eager to play. Koriana and Richard were one team, of course, and Victor and Garfield were the other, while Raven supposedly ' _reffed."_ And Richard learned that day to not underestimate the power of the Cyborg and Changeling teaming up. He might be a little taller than the shape shifter, but those forms sure come in handy for defense.

…

As the day faded and the sun set the group of friends formed a circle around a fire pit. "Kori, would you do the honors." Victor asked gesturing to the pit. She smiled and threw a ball of green fire at the dried up wood before they all settled down, and Victor handed Garfield a bag of ice for his swollen nose, which he took gratefully. Apparently the nearly broken nose had only gotten worse as the day went by. Victor smiled and sat down, opening up a bag of marshmallows for s'mores.

Koriana took a bite of the yummy treat and smiled, lightly leaning into Richards shoulder. "Today was just delightful, and these treats are very delicious."

Richard tensed a little at her touch but then smiled and relaxed. "It was a good day wasn't it?"

"I sure had fun." Victor joined in leaning back and popping another s'more in his mouth.

"It wasn't bad." Raven added with a shrug.

Garfield huffed, "Speak for yourselves." He wined nasally, pressing the ice back onto his nose.

"You got what was coming to you." Raven responded, earning some chuckles from the others.

In the simplest terms, life was good. For at least this moment they could enjoy the simplest of things with good friends...

…

 _Sugar Ray - Into Yesterday_


	3. Chapter 2

Heroes

Chapter 2

Sunday.

Richard awoke to the quiet but rapid knocking at his door. He groaned and shuffled his way out of bed, just to glance at his clock. It was 7:00 am on a Sunday morning. Normally Richard was a bit of a early riser but they had stayed up very late the night before telling stories by the camp fire, so he was expecting to at least sleep in until 9. He groaned again as he fully got up and opened the door, just to be greeted by a perky Koriana.

"Kori?"

"Richard, guess what! I was just informed that the carnival is in town!"

"On a Sunday?"

"Well the first day was on Saturday…"

Richard rubbed his eyes and gave her a small smile. "Great Kori, we can go later."

"No we must go as soon as the gates open!" She insisted.

"And what did the others say about this?"

"Well Victor said I was crazy, Garfield didn't answer the door, and Raven threw a pillow in my face."

"Sounds about right." He chuckled.

"Please Richard, today is the last day." She pleaded.

He sighed; he couldn't say no looking into those big green eyes. "We'll leave at 8:00."

…

It took awhile to get the others up but once they were, they were out the door. The carnival was overwhelming; so much to see, so much to do, so much to eat! First they went to the food concessions and had lunch; they were all quite hungry since Koriana didn't exactly let them eat before they left.

Victor being the big eater he is, likes to show off his food devouring skills, but sadly when he's up against the alien he doesn't stand a chance. One man was so amazed by Koriana's eating capability, he suggested she enter the hot dog eating contest, which she did.

People giggled and pointed as she walked up onto the stage and sat down next to big husky men. Richard couldn't help but overhear behind him as people joked that the girl didn't stand a chance, and he just smirked in response, they obviously didn't know what she was capable of.

A whistle blew and just as vulgar as the men Koriana chewed down the dogs. One by one she consumed with ease, and went through three mustard bottles. As time passed there was only one man left, and he was fading fast. He stared at his half eaten hot dog and pouted before looking back at the girl who ate hers with ease. Koriana couldn't help but turn to the man and look at him with concern on her face, "Sir, are you alright?"

"Where does it go?" He questioned looking at her thin waist before letting his face fall onto the table in defeat.

Koriana squealed and jumped for joy as a man handed her a blue ribbon. overfilled with joy she bolted off the stage and jumped into Richards arms with delight. He was taken aback by her excitement but did hug her back and congratulated her.

They regrouped with their friends, who couldn't stomach to watch the contest, and went on a binge of rollercosters and rides, each one faster than the one before. No one quite understood how Koriana could win a hot dog eating contest and then go on a rollercoaster without getting sick. Especially since by the there'd ride Garfield was bolting out of the car to an unlucky trash can.

Koriana danced around the park roads with joy, "I am filled with wonderful delight from the fast, scream provoking ride." She said happily as she ate her fried pickle.

Victor smiled, "You gotta love roller coasters." He said patting Garfield on the back.

Garfield groaned and shook his head, still a little queasy, and to his relief they all decided to take a break from the rides and wandered to the games. Victor was excellent at carnival games and loved winning prizes, even if he ended up giving most of them away to kids in the end, and so was monopolized in that. Richard took Koriana over to a particular game and somewhat showed off as he was determined to win the girl a prize. While across the way Raven handed the changeling some water.

"You feeling any better?" She asked in concern.

"A little, how do I look?"

"Green." She said blankly.

"Ha, ha." He drawled sarcastically taking a sip of water.

They both promptly turned their heads as a loud bell went off and a man handed Richard a large stuffed animal, and he quickly turned around and handed it to Koriana, who squeezed it with delight. Richard smiled at her expression as he watched her glance up towards a ride. "What is that?" She pointed.

He turned and looked up to see the Ferris wheel. "Oh that's a Ferris wheel, you wanna go on it?" He asked and she smiled and nodded eagerly as he grabbed her hand.

…

The sun set as fireworks went off and lit the sky with loud colorful explosions. The ride stopped with the pair at the top, and Koriana rested her head on her hands as she watched the sky with wonderment.

"It's amazing." She said in amazement.

"What, the fireworks?"

"No, I mean yes the colorful explosions are wonderful, but I was talking about Earth."

Richard smiled, "What was it like on your world?"

Koriana's smile faltered and Richard suddenly wished he hadn't asked as she leaned back against the seat of the ride. "It… it's not like Earth."

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"There… there was a war." She sighed disheartened, "My older sister betrayed her people, all because she envied me." She told as she twiddled with her fingers, "Being the oldest she was supposed to be next in line to the throne, but our people saw hatred in her heart and elected me next inline instead."

"What happened?" He asked.

"All I will say is that I'm lucky I managed to escape before my planets destruction."

Richard could see the hurt in her eyes as she held back tears. This was the first time he had ever heard this story, and wondered if this was the first time she had ever told it.

He put his hand over hers and made sure she looked at him when he said, "I'm sorry."

She did a light hearted smile, "It's okay Richard, that was two years ago. Earth is my home now."

He smiled and gripped her hand tighter as he opened his mouth to say something, "Kori, I've… I've been meaning to ask you something." He began, and he really hoped his hand wasn't sweating as it held hers.

"What is it?" She asked, trying not to show how excited she was.

"Um," he began, "I was wondering… why you call yourself Koriana?" 'Dammit,' He inwardly swore. That was not the question he wanted to ask.

"Oh, well… there's many reasons why I prefer it to Koriand'R, one, it's less formal. Koriand'R is my princess name, and even though I am and always will be a princess, I wanted something a little less proper. It's kind of like your name."

"What do you mean like my name?" He asked.

"Well I know your name is really Dick, but you prefer Richard."

His eyes widened, "How did you know that?"

"Victor told me." She said as if it was nothing, "He said it as if it was some sort of secret or joke, but I don't see the humor in it. A name is a name"

Richard couldn't help but sigh in relief at her lack of information of the different meanings of Dick. "Okay, and what about Kori?" He asked.

"Well that's just the nickname, you guys gave me it." She smiled.

"Us, your friends…" He began and she nodded. "And we are all grateful that you are our friend, I am especially gratefully that you are my friend.

She smiled, "And I'm glad you are mine."

He smiled with her before his smile began to falter as he looked away, "And you know I wouldn't want to do anything to jeopardize our friendship."

Her brow furrowed as she looked at him confused. "Richard, what would jeopardize our friendship?"

"Taking it a step further." He said softly turning to face her.

"Oh." She said in realization before looking back up at him, "Would you like to, take it a step further?" She said softly leaning in.

He gulped as she leaned closer; his eyes on her strawberry glossed lips as they slightly parted. "I would." He said before bracing himself as he slowly followed her movements and their half lidded eyes fluttered shut.

Loud booms from the fireworks went off over the bay, but they ignored them as their lips met in a soft kiss. Hearts pounded in chests as unknown feelings were finally made clear, and below them on the ground stood the others with smirks on their faces.

"Well it's about time." Victor sneered crossing his arms, "Okay, so who had August?"

"That would be me." Raven said razing a hand with a curved smile.

"Ah, that's not fair, I was so close." Garfield whined in frustration.

…

Once the fireworks ended the newly found couple exited the ride and the group went back to the car. Koriana leaned her head on Richards shoulder as they walked and he leaned his head on hers as their hands met in a sweet connection. And they stayed in that position even in the back seat of the car, next to Victor's big bag of prizes.

Victor couldn't help but glance back at them from the rear view mirror and smiled. Well, now that they're clearly together he can no longer tease them about liking each other. But he's sure to find something else to tease them about. He then glanced beside him at Raven who crossed her arms in annoyance as Garfield's sleeping head rested on her shoulder. But she clearly wasn't as annoyed as she made out to be as a small smile snuck its way on her lips at the cute changeling.

"I saw that." Victor smirked.

Raven glared at him, "Just keep your eyes on the road, Tinman."

And just like that Victor had a new pair to tease.

Starfire, Firework-

katy perry


	4. Chapter 3

Heroes

Chapter 3

Monday.

Monday, back to school, back to work. The real question is, why is Monday so far from Friday, yet Friday is so close to Monday? Frankly it was a little hard for our five students to get up this morning, but that's what they get for staying out late the night before.

Richard awoke to a small tapping on his door. He moaned as he turned and glanced at his alarm clock, his eyes widened, he was late. "Shit." He swore as he quickly hopped up and grabbed his school uniform. He hurriedly put on the pants as he heard the light knocking again and rushed to answer the door with his toothbrush stuck in his mouth.

"Good morning Richard." Koriana said happily and then blushed seeing his shirtless, disheveled attire. He smiled, his cheeks a little pink before pulling the toothbrush out of his mouth. "I just wanted to make sure you were up." She said bashfully.

"Yeah, I just need a few more seconds to get ready. For some reason I've been having a hard time getting up in the morning." He trailed off. He would like to blame it on the long nights that he had shared hanging out late with his friends, but the thing is he has been out way later on missions and other things and would still be able to get up early the next day. But in those exceptions when he did reach his bed he would crash immediately, unlike last night where he tossed and turned for most of the night. And the reason for his tossing and turning… well its right in front of him.

"Okay then," Koriana said with a smile, "We shall meet you in the dining hall." She smiled and was about to walk away when he called her name.

"Kori." He began and she turned to face him, but before she could ask what he needed he smiled and slowly walked forward, grabbing her hips and pulled her close to kiss her.

Him not getting a goodnights sleep will take some getting used to, but for her he will manage.

…

Richard and Koriana met the others at breakfast and only had to rush a little before the bell rung for class. But before they could walk into the classroom Mr. J'onzz stopped them. A new unknown villain has appeared and was wreaking havoc down town. When they asked the name of this criminal, J'onn had plainly said, "He goes by the name Threader."

The name was obviously ridiculous and humorous, but the team couldn't dwell on that at the moment as they rushed to their rooms and suited up. Like firefighters, the team had trained enough to take only a few minutes to change and be out the door.

The young Hero's didn't know a thing about this villain, how dangerous he was, his powers, or his weaknesses. They just hoped he wouldn't be too much trouble for them.

…

Threader really wasn't hard to find, his appearance was that outlandish. He really was a child that only his mother could love. The best way to describe his wardrobe would be a homeless man wearing a quilted jacket and slacks. The poorly dressed man really didn't seem much of a threat, especially when his powers were revealed to be fabric manipulation, and yes it's as lame as it sounds.

With a wave of his hands a purple glow would evaporate fabric material, thread, and cloth. He didn't even try to rob a bank or jewelry store and instead opted for walking around and humiliating the poor citizens by unthreading and removing their clothing.

The team of Heroes of course confronted him like they did any other villain, but Threader didn't seem fazed as they asked him to surrender quietly. The villain only smirked at them before dramatically waving his fingers towards them in a ridiculous manner.

On instinct they prepared themselves for the impact as the purple power eloped them. Who knows, his powers could have some tricks up its sleeves. Each one watched as the threads of their shirts slowly un-weaved to their waists, leaving them bear chested and exposed. The boys couldn't help but chuckle at the pathetic attempt in fazing them, they had taken down far more difficult criminals than this guy.

"Oh no." Garfield mocked.

"We don't have shirts." Victor added.

"What are we going to do?" Richard joined in.

Threader pouted in irritation at the mockery, "You might not think it's so funny when you realize I just eliminated two members of your team." He smirked as he pointed behind the boys.

The boys turned and saw the bare backs of the girls as they crossed their arms over their chests in embarrassment. Quickly they put all humor aside in respect for their female members as they rushed to help.

"Are you girls okay?"Richard asked.

"I'm alright." Koriana said, her back still turned.

"We're fine, just go." Raven responded before her and Koriana took off in flight for the school. There is no way they could fight like this.

…

At the academy the girls quickly changed and waited for the boys to return, and it wasn't a pretty sight when they did. As soon as the doors to their loft opened Koriana jumped up from off the couch and flew over towards them eager to know if they were victorious. "How did it go, were you successful, did you defeat Threader?" She asked eagerly, but neither one responded as each boy walked to their rooms, awkwardly hiding themselves behind random street objects.

"I'm ganna take that as a no." Raven responded dryly from the couch before opening back her book.

…

Once the boys were dressed the team regrouped in the lounge room. They couldn't just let this villain go, or leave him to the authorities. It was their job to take him down. But He was a lot harder than they had expected, and the fact that they were defeated by him was overly embarrassing.

"What if we send Gar out as a tiger, or some sort of animal?" Richard considered out loud.

The others thought about this for a moment before Victor spoke up, "I don't know, this guy might be a pathetic excuse for a villain, but I feel uncomfortable sending Gar out alone."

"Yes, I would prefer a different option." Koriana added.

The room grew silent as they considered what they could do and it forced Richard to think back to the battle. His mind briefly went back to Koriana's bare, smooth back, but he quickly blocked that part out for his best interest, besides… he could always come back to it later. He tried not to think about how embarrassed he was when he was forced to go home practically naked, but that little thought reminded him that even though Victor's uniform had lots of fabric spots, it was mostly metal material, and between himself and Garfield, Victor was the most dressed because of it.

Richard then couldn't help but smirk as he turned to his friends beside him. "Guy's, I have an idea." It suddenly seemed so simple, they just needed to show up wearing different material, anything could work as long as it isn't cotton. They quickly rushed to the wardrobe room and stood outside the door. "So all we need to do is make clothes with non-fabric material." Richard explained. But it wasn't as easy as it sounded as the team separated by the gender specific rooms.

They rushed through the selections grabbing anything that wasn't made with fabric, and it wasn't long before each member walked out of the dressing rooms and looked at themselves in the mirror, just to feel utterly and completely stupid.

Richard looked around at his friends and sighed at their reactions, "I know, I know, but this might be the only way to defeat this guy."

They grumbled and nodded in response before Garfield threw down a chunk of his costume. "Forget this, I'm going tiger." He said, quickly morphing off the outfit.

"You do realize you can't change back then?" Robin asked and Garfield nodded.

"We're going to get laughed at." Raven informed Richard, as if he didn't already know.

"Yep." Richard responded simply, adjusting his bulky uniform.

So the team set out again and hoped they would return this time successful.

…

Threader was feeling quite confident that no one was going to interrupt his acts of cruelty against the public indecency law as he went on humiliating random citizens.

"Yo Threader, the 70s called, they want their clothes back." Victor hollered as he stood proudly next to his team.

Threader flinched at the comeback before turning around just to point and laugh. "You think you and your new bulky clothes can defeat me?" He laughed, mocking their wardrobe, and they didn't answer. "Hmph, we'll see about that." He huffed, completely unfazed that he was out numbered and there was a tiger in front of him. The team stood still as the villain rolled up his long sleeves and wiggled his fingers in front of them, but his magic did nothing. He tried again and his eyes widened as the heroes stood unfazed. "Oh crud." He spoke before quickly trying to make a break for it, but he didn't get far before he was grabbed, captured and brought to the authorities.

And as soon as they turned him in they rushed back home to change, not only were the clothes they wore humiliating but they were uncomfortable and chafed.

…

After they reported their victory to J'onn and changed into decent clothes, the baby powder was passed around before they decided to head out to the park. It was a nice day and they needed some time to relax after the morning they had. It was one of those nice cool summer afternoons were the grass was green and the wind blew through the trees.

Victor, being the grilling man that he is, prepared food on the grill, sporting his 'Mister good looken' is cooken', apron that he loved so much. Richard helped by setting out other picnic like items at the table. Raven sat under a shady tree and peacefully read a book, while Koriana was happily playing fetch with Garfield in dog form.

It was the perfect ending for the day… Until Koriana accidently threw the ball way too far with her alien strength, and the others watched as Garfield instinctually ran to fetch it. They knew it would take some time to retrieve the ball but it seemed to almost be taking too long. They all sat at the picnic table and waited for their friend to come back, with or without the ball and they started to get concerned when they realized he wasn't returning. "Do you think he's okay?" Richard asked.

"I'm sure he's fine, with Kori's arm he's probably all the way across town fetching that ball." Victor reassured, flipping the patties on the grill. Richard shrugged and nodded for that was probably true.

Koriana suddenly smiled, standing up, "Look he's back!" She pointed excitedly as the green dog quickly ran up to them, the ball happily in his mouth. Koriana joyfully ran up to him, happy he had returned okay. "Gar, we were starting to worry, I am so happy to see you are alright." She said as the dog jumped into her arms, happily accepting Koriana's affectionate petting.

"Your just in time too Gar, the foods done." Victor said and then turned and watched as the dog didn't stop begging for Koriana's affection. Koriana continued to pet him and giggled as he started licking her face, and that got Richard's attention for this wasn't just a normal dog, this was Garfield. Victor smirked and elbowed him, "You jealous someone's kissing your girl?"

Richard grumbled in response as Koriana got up off the ground and approached the others. "Friends, I'm concerned about Garfield."

"What do you mean Kori?" Victor asked.

"Well it just seems he isn't acting like himself." She noticed gesturing to the dog who rolled mindlessly through the dirt.

"He seems fine to me." Raven drawled from the background.

"Yeah he's fine," Victor blew off before turning back to the picnic table. "Time to eat!" He said rubbing his hands together. Everyone got up and headed towards the table but before anyone could sit the dog hopped up and made a violent mess of the food. "Aug! Gar!" Victor shouted.

"Gross." Raven hissed wiping the mess off her clothes.

But before anyone could complain any further Koriana pointed, "Um friends?..."

Not only was the dog eating cheeseburgers, but the lemonade that was spilt began to wash the green off the dog and revealed brown fur. "Gar?" Victor asked.

"I don't think that's Garfield, Vic." Richard informed him.

"Well if this isn't our friend then…"

"-Where is he?" Raven finished Koriana's question. Suddenly the dog hopped off the table and jumped on her, knocking her over and licking her face. She threw him off her, infuriated but he just jumped back on again.

Victor picked up the dog and Koriana helped Raven to her feet. "So what do we do with Fido?" Victor asked.

"More important, we need to find Garfield." Richard said.

"Maybe he can lead us to him?" Victor suggested as the dog licked his face.

Victor put the dog down just to have him leap onto Raven again, knocking her back on the ground as the dog continued to lick her cheek, "We're off to a great start." She huffed.

…

They put the dog on a leash and followed him around town in hopes he might lead them to their friend, but it seemed to be a dead lead. The dog clearly wasn't trained in any way and with every passing car or bird he was off. The team was forced to split up in hopes of covering more ground before it got dark.

"Any luck guys?" Richard asked into his phone as he walked down the streets.

"Nope." Raven answered.

"I have had no luck as well." Koriana sighed.

"Vic, what about you?" Richard asked.

"Don't you dare pee on my leg you little-! What? Oh, no sign of him."

"It's ganna get dark soon." Koriana sighed looking up at the sky.

"Let's regroup." Richard suggested and the others agreed. They met in the down town area and sat on the street curb. They were clearly worried and filled with concern over their lost friend. "Have we tried calling him again?" Richard asked as Victor held up his phone and pressed Garfield's speed dial, just for it to immediately go to his voicemail.

"Oh…where could he be?" Koriana asked sadly.

"Where could who be?" Garfield asked causing the others to jump and turn to see him eating an ice cream cone.

Excitedly Koriana jumped up and immediately hugged him, relieved to see he was alright. "Friend!" She screamed, squeezing him tightly.

"Hey, you guys found Dave." Garfield cheered as the dog ran up and hopped into his arms, licking his face.

"Where were you?" Victor asked and the others quickly turned to him wanting an answer.

"Well after I found the ball I ran into Dave in front of the movie theater. I didn't want to ruin the picnic for you guys so I had Dave take my place while I watched a movie." He said petting the dog.

"And you really thought we wouldn't notice?" Richard asked as Garfield put the dog down.

"This isn't the first time I've painted Dave green and had him take my place, frankly I'm shocked you guys haven't figured it out sooner."

Dave quickly jumped up, knocking Raven over again as he licked her face. "Yeah, well, this time we noticed." She huffed in disgust.

Koriana helped her up as they all turned to Garfield with angered faces. "Oh come on guys, it's kind of funny when you think about it."

"Yeah well were not laughing." Richard said sternly.

"Yes, we were worried about you." Koriana said crossing her arms.

"And your mutt here ate all my food." Victor added.

Garfield cowered under their stare. "You guys could have called me." He said sheepishly.

"On your dead phone?" Victor asked.

"It's not dead." He defended pulling it out of his pocket. "Oh… Okay, so I should have told you guys…" He said scratching the back of his head.

"And…" They added.

"And I will never paint Dave again and have him take my place."

"And…"

"And I'm sorry I made you all worry." There angered faces faltered as they each gave him a somewhat forgiving smile. "So am I forgiven?" Garfield asked eagerly, but the others didn't respond as they all turned around and walked back to Victor's car. "Guy's? Oh come on I said I was sorry. "Guy's?!"

…

Count On Me - Bruno Mars


End file.
